30 April 2010

Today's Independent newspaper in Ashland, Kentucky proclaimed "Large snake leaves a calling card." Yep it is Rattlesnake season in Eastern Kentucky. The article made me smile.

Clell Lucas, minister of Princess Chapel, has honored several with graveside prayers in Klaiber Cemetery the past few years. He found the skin of what appears to be a large rattler in a shed he was cleaning out. The article goes on to say that Rush, Kentucky is known for big ones. Toward the end of the article Lucas states "Sam Jenkins and Alfred Sexton, both of Rush...I would go to them for information about snakes. They're both dead now..."

What in the world does this article have to do with a genealogy blog and why did it make me smile? First Appalachia is one of the few places I know where introductions begin with at least three generations of genealogy: "This here is Joe Jones, his mother is Sue Jones and his grandfather was George Jones." Appalachia is the center of ballad making and ballads are a very useful tool when doing Eastern Kentucky Genealogy, which I have mentioned before in this blog. And story telling is the heartbeat of our community. Rattlesnake stories are right at the top of the list.

Sam Jenkins, mentioned by Clell Lucas in today's rattlesnake article was the grandson of Hulda Sexton Kitchen. The Sexton's migrated from Letcher County, Kentucky to Carter County, Kentucky. Sam died in 1977. Alfred Sexton. Well actually there were two and both had a pretty good knowledge of this hill country. Alfred James Sexton was the son of Andrew Jackson Sexton and died in 1983. Then there was Alfred son of William Riley and Dicey Thomas Sexton. And the Lucas family - you guessed it - lot's of ties to the Sexton family. Cousin's at every turn.

Which brings me back to story telling. There is usually a thread of truth in Eastern Kentucky stories. Some may be golly whoopers but if you listen closely you will ascertain bits and pieces of knowledge that you can carry through life.

I remember when I got my first dulcimer made by Leslie Crawford, a talented dulcimer maker in Boyd County, Kentucky. The first thing I was told was to drop the buttons of a rattlesnake down through the fret holes so it would play "sweeter." I still have those buttons in that dulcimer. Unfortunately this may be one of those golly whoopers because I can only pluck. I enjoy my private moments plucking but I doubt if anyone else would call it sweet playing.

Then there was that time in 1997 when my neighbor killed the baby rattler in her barn. We were having a log house raising at the time and a young builder from Ohio got really excited. Buckeye had never seen a rattler before. Put that baby rattler in a baggie in his suit case and took it back to Ohio. Last I heard his mother was horrified first at the smell and then the discovery of the snake in his dirty laundry.

The summer of 1968 is another good rattlesnake story. We pulled in the driveway for Sunday dinner, when I explained to my husband that someone must have died. Cars and trucks were lined up and down the driveway, as far as you could see. John Henry Powell Sexton Klaiber exclaimed that I was to look from a distance at the dead snake, at least six feet long but warned that a dead snake can still bite. Seems the snake had curled up on the back porch. When Elsie Rucker Klaiber saw it she never stopped dialing the phone until everyone in the hollow was called. One person had enough sense to stop at the milk house down the road and alert John Henry what was going on. Yes we have the buttons for that snake as well.

I killed a rattlesnake in 2004. Before you think I was brave, I ran over it at least 20 times with the car tires. Disappointed the neighbor because I destroyed its buttons. Hubby killed one last year that was curled by his fence post while mending fence at the top of the hill.

Life is made up of memories and stories. When Brian Tackett visited awhile back he said his memory is filled with the warning of "watch out for the snakes," from the minute he opened the car door as a little tyke until he became a grown man. I visualize my father in law sitting on the tractor with his gun across his arm "standing guard" as I picked blackberries many years ago. The warning is not an idle threat.

Now realize that the above tales are the 20th and 21st century and the pioneer families settled around Garner and Rush, Boyd County before it was even a county in 1860. The rock cliffs and the hills were cleaned for pasture with bare hands and hand tools. In the 1880's and early 1900's farmers became home miners. They would dig for coal with small picks laying on their stomachs in the hillsides to eek out a little extra money. Many stared snakes right in the eyes!

These stories give us a look at how our pioneer families lived in these same hills. Understanding the area where your ancestors lived helps you to know who these people were and how they lived and worked.

By the way it is time to celebrate Arbor Day so I think I will go out to plant my trees. But I am taking a hoe with me!

24 April 2010

No research project can be attributed to one specific researcher and the puzzle about Anna Sanders McBrayer's Tombstone is no exception. I blogged about the discovery of her missing tombstone several weeks ago. Since then the story has unraveled with sincere thanks to Carl McBrayer, "Jim" [James Franklin] McBrayer and "Bob" [Robert Lewis] McBrayer.

I will take the reader through the steps it has taken to unravel the problem of the missing tombstone. Sometimes things are just not the way they first appear.

Shortly after writing the story I carefully went through the many pages of Sexton Cemetery records I
have collected over the years. Sexton Cemetery is in Boyd County, Kentucky. Besides the picture posted in the last blog I discovered that I had a 1997 35mm photograph, along with a map showing the specifics of all the graves in Sexton Cemetery for that year.

Comparing the 1997 photograph with the 1970's photograph you can see that someone has repaired and uprighted the stone in Sexton Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky.

With map and probe in hand we spent two afternoons searching for the tombstone at the specific grave site and around the edges of the cemetery in woods and weeds without results. As we came down the hill my husband wondered out loud if the stone had been moved to Rowan County to be next to her husband. Both of us seemed to vaguely remember James Earl McBrayer talking about it many years before but had thought the issue dropped.

Carl McBrayer is the "keeper" of all things McBrayer. A wonderful telephone chat and search of his records showed that at a McBrayer Association meeting in 1978 the subject had been broached but he had no other information or follow up in the notes for her.

If the stone was moved I could now surmise that it had happened between 1997 and 2004 when James Earl McBrayer had died. Carl called Jim McBrayer and I quickly had a picture of her tombstone in Hoggtown Cemetery, Rowan County, Kentucky. You will note that when reset they removed the broken section without damage to the writing. The stone has been placed next to her husband who did die in Rowan County, Kentucky.

But then Boyd County Coroner pointed out this presented another problem. He did not remember any paperwork crossing his desk and he was concerned that just the stone had been removed. Since Sexton Cemetery, Boyd County still receives burials could this now be an unmarked grave that could be disturbed unknowningly with a new burial.

According to Kentucky KAR when there is a disinterment a permit is to be filed with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and the local cemetery authorities be notified. The unofficial family caregiver of the cemetery was Harold Sexton, now deceased. The removal must be done by a certified funeral home. We were sure caregiver Harold Sexton would have told us had he been aware as we live very close and visited often. And I applaud Vital Statistics. Melody did a two day search year by year including 2001 without result. She did not locate the proper form.

This lead several of Anna's great great grandchildren to start talking about getting a new marker for the grave in Boyd County where she died. Remember I said not all things are as they appear even when you have followed the paper trail!

On the 22nd Bob McBrayer wrote that James Earl McBrayer's nephew Arthur had shared the information and photographs of the removal of not only the tombstone but the remains of Anna Sanders McBrayer. Bob wrote: "I remember him saying noone from the family was present when the exhumation took place. The remains were put in a box and placed next to James."

Every good researcher knows to document any historical event. By providing the date in 2001, Carl was able to go back through files of the McBrayer family newletter In Defiance and quickly sent me an article along with photographs that were taken by the funeral home Northcutt & Sons in Morehead, Kentucky. Thank goodness for family newsletters!

Anna Sanders McBrayer is now at rest in Rowan County, Kentucky next to her husband of many years, James R. McBrayer. The unmarked location in Sexton Cemetery can be utilized for future burials without disruption. The Boyd County Cemetery Board has been notified so that the county cemetery database and records can be updated for future researchers. A notation will be placed in the comment field showing the date of exhumation and location of the new site.

A final research comment. The last reading of the Hoggtown, aka Turner, Aka Elliottville Cemetery was made prior to 2001 as well. Future researchers may have to puzzle over this again. If a new researcher or younger descendent comes across Anna's burial site in Rowan County they may assume that she died there. There are no Kentucky death certificates for 1889. That tombstone is the only recorded "document" of her death. As we older researchers hand over the reins and records we hope they pass down the story and "the rest of the story" to their children.

Anna had come back to Boyd County where she had lived with her husband for 45 years before moving on to Rowan County. She died while visiting family in Boyd County in April when a wagon trip back to Rowan would have been difficult. She laid at rest for 112 years in Sexton Cemetery, Pigeon Roost, Boyd County, Kentucky before being reunited with her husband's grave in Rowan County. May she rest in peace.

21 April 2010

Kavanaugh Chapel Cemetery, located in Boyd County, Kentucky is one of the prettiest little Church with adjoining cemetery I have ever seen. It is always well maintained and well cared for. The community at Burnaugh take great pride and honor their ancestors.

And every time I hear the news of another cemetery destroyed or hurt by the hands of less than human beings my blood boils. Yet as I surveyed the destruction Jane Preece took time to remind me that this would bring the community together.

As we stood in the cemetery car after car came to check on their loved ones and were already volunteering time and donations to heal and restore the cemetery. The church has already scheduled a community day, May 1st, to begin repairs. The Boyd County Cemetery Board has provided enough Barre Pak to put as many as 36 or more smaller stones back on their bases.

That said tears came to my eyes as I saw how many of the early stones were not just off bases but had smashed and broken when toppled. One thing is certain the Boyd County Sheriff's Office will prosecute when they find the offenders. Another incident on the other side of the county, several years ago, saw that offender go directly to jail. I hope the offenders are reading this. Our county will not tolerate this.

Below are some of the pictures taken today. Between 65 and 70 stones are damaged. The digital pictures will be turned over to our collection at the Boyd County Library.

11 April 2010

The Ancestor Approved Award was created by Leslie Ann Ballou At Ancestors Live Here. There are two criteria. 1. Recipients should write 10 surprising, humbling, or enlightening aspects of their research. 2. Recipients are to forward the award to 10 more blogs that are "doing their ancestors proud."

My nomination was forwarded by MHD and her GreatGreats blog. Being new at blogging I am humbled to be selected for the nomination by a fellow genealogist.

Having researched for 40+ plus years writing about 10 aspects of research should be easy. But as I sit here my mind is churning with many different ideas. My answers may be a little longer than most and I apologize if I get wordy.

1. I am humbled and enlightened to have researched long enough to see so many changes in research techniques. But at the same time it saddens me a bit. When I first began researching, libraries had very few microfilm readers and few had "genealogy rooms" specifically geared for our needs. Thus to find a specific item you might have to travel many miles to locate what you needed for a quest. Along the way I saw and visited many fine repositories to find items I now see with a click of the button. Today our younger researchers do more and more armchair research and may never experience browsing these wonderful places nor have the stories that were involved in those treks. I hope they are able to experience the thrill of holding an original document in the dusty attic of an unorganized courthouse.

Census records rarely had been indexed. Thus a person must hand crank the readers. But the benefit of viewing every page of a county was the knowledge base you acquired of the many families that surrounded your ancestor. On the other hand how enlightening to be able to "plug in" a name today and find those cousins that moved away from the family unit in just a few brief moments.

2. I am humbled to have learned of my great grandfather [Edward] Leopord Feyler's background. He came to America leaving his Jewish family in Hungary. European research finally led me on a quest to find Cousin Hajnalka Feiler Richter's family and how she, her husband and in laws had been marched to the trains and then died at Auschwitz. In the same moment of tears, our family was reunited with one of her sons that had survived. And what a joy to communicate with his grandson who speaks English. My emotions ran high then and do now. I sat reliving that moment when I recently watched Lisa Kudrow in her appearance on Who Do You Think You Are. May we never forget!And what a joyous surprise when I found my grandfather's name on the Hungarian memorial card of his great grandfather in Budapest - when he had never been to Budapest. Thank you FamilySearch Labs!3. Over the years I have been tagged the CSI lady [Cemetery Scene Investigator] and simply the "Cemetery Lady." I have cataloged cemeteries in New Jersey, Ohio and my wonderful Eastern Kentucky. My husband and I have repaired dozens of stones. I have bonded with many other cemetery trompers. The memories are wonderful. But when my husband and I inherited trusteeship of our own community cemetery I was and am humbled beyond words. I am humbled even more every time we have a country burial or here the bugle blow at a military service at the top of our hill. The love of family and friends in Eastern Kentucky is unlike any where else on earth. This is truly God's country and to quote my father, God's Plan.

4. The definition of Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something unrelated. I believe that everything happens for a reason and a season. Thus during my time as a genealogy librarian I saw many Serendipity moments, but none so surprising as the day two 1/2 sisters came from two different states searching for answers and sat down at the same table without knowing the other. As they worked side by side they began to chat and the reality on their faces was amazing. As the day settled down I looked around the room. There were five empty tables but these two ladies sat down together at the same table. Had it happened any other way would they have met?

5. Clues and documents come from many different places. But I was never more surprised and overjoyed than the day I shook the filth and dirt off the Memorial written 7 November 1877 by the Neal Valley Grange #1340 to honor the death of Marcus Sexton 21 October 1877. It was buried under piles of garbage and filth in an old smokehouse on the family property in Boyd County, Kentucky. I had spent an entire summer going through papers and killing silver fish and was down to the floor when my husband and a friend suggested literally scraping the dirt at the bottom with a shovel. It came up in one piece and little damage. It has led me on a quest to learn more about Kentucky Granges. If anyone can pinpoint the Neal Valley Grange in Eastern Kentucky I will add you to the list of things that surprise and delight me!

6. Marcus Sexton and his wife are buried in Klaiber Cemetery. We have lovingly cared for their graves for many years. What a surprise when I found a very small newspaper clipping that he had been exhumed from another location when his wife died and brought by wagon to our cemetery for his final resting place.

7. I am humbled by those in the genealogy world that take their time to thank each other and share their work. I have never been so delighted than when recently, Marian Stromberg steered me toward a newly discovered 1625 Virginia Company letter written by my ancestor Robert Addams. I had shut the book on his research in 2004 & had not come back to it since then. The letter was discovered in 2005. I have shared my experience when visiting Martin's Hundred during Hume's execavations and the rest of my research notes with her as well. The letter is so enlightening. I am so honored to say this gentleman was one of my ancestors and the struggle these people went through so that I can say proudly I am an American.

8. I was humbled and enlightened to participate in the Veterans History Project with the Library of Congress with the American Folklife Center. The men and women that served and do serve for our Nation as our Military are amazing. The World War II and VietNam veterans who sat down with me for interviews are all heroes. Many said that they were telling me things they had never shared before and were thankful to finally record their story. All touched me deeply. I am blessed that my own father published two books about the CBI and the courage of all those that flew the Hump with him. It was his legacy to me, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. May we all learn from the "greatest generation."

9. I remember the surprise I felt and the joy of holding the bible that had been retrieved from the estate sale trash bin by a caring friend. The back and front were gone and the pages tattered. With the overwhelming chore of cleaning out the family home my aunt and mother had mistaken it as just a damaged book not worth keeping. Inside its pages lay the wonderful history of my maternal grandmother's Halterman heritage. I showed it to my paternal grandmother who opened the door to the world of genealogy to me. I will always hold dear the memories and shared discoveries I had with her. She was a colorful lady, ahead of her time who's love was unconditional. Thank you Clara Page Geer Martin.

10. I am so humbled when my tiny grand daughter asks me who the people are that look out at her from picture frames within our family home. While the question may be fleeting as she scampers off I hold onto the thread that someone else will take time to follow the journey our ancestors followed. I was totally surprised and thrilled as 15 year old Taylor Tackett [Klaiber Descendant] stood by the stone of her 4th great grandmother this past weekend and jumped with glee saying "I know her! I read about her in the book." [She was referencing a now out of print book Klaiber Cousins that I wrote many years ago.] She truly makes my journey worth every minute.

Reading back over the 10 items I note how many times I have used the word humbled. Every time I work with a patron, client, family member or fellow genealogists, I learn something new and valuable. Every time I follow the paths of my ancestors I learn valuable lessons. Thank you Leslie and MHD for this exercise.

Criteria #2 won't be hard. There are so many wonderful genealogy blogs that share information.

08 April 2010

I see posts from genealogists every day commenting on organizing and cleaning up their desk space. It is a natural trait that surfaces as the genealogy "disease" progresses. What I don't see are comments about cleaning up and out computers, beyond backing up data. They also are files and stacks of virtual papers. Guilty as charged!

My computer has two hard drives. The files are organized by surname and others labeled by area. The other day while helping another genealogist with a Carter County quest I discovered the Carter County Guardianship bonds I had extracted several years ago with the intent of publishing "in the future." The future has arrived!

Spellings are as recorded thus you may see the same name with different spellings. Some entries for the same person may appear more than once when guardianship records were renewed. While the majority of these involve children remember that some guardianship documents might be filed for adults under certain circumstances as well.